Notes from Chicago

Ashley Phillips

5.0 (4)
Society & Culture
Updated Weekly

Notes from Chicago is a love letter to the greatest city on the planet. Every week join host and longtime Chicago resident Ashley Phillips as she talks with artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, tastemakers and more about their relationship with the city on the make.

2d ago

The Weight of It: What Chicago's Artists Carry to Create

This summer, we're revisiting some of our favorite conversations. In this episode, we talk about the weight artists and organizers carry, and why they keep carrying it anyway. Photographer Kenn Cook Jr. reflects on capturing the West Side's true story and the West Sider who moved him to tears with her reaction to his work. Muralist-turned-fiber-artist Andy Bellomo opens up about painting through anxiety and postpartum in full public view at the Chicago Cultural Center. Laura Baginski remembers Early Birds Club co-founder Susie Lee, who kept building joy for others even through stage four cancer. And 2025 MacArthur Genius Grant winner Tonika Lewis Johnson tells the story of the Folded Map Project and the phone call that changed her life. Explore the full episodes we revisited today: 1) Kenn Cook Jr., discussing how he captures the true essence of the West Side of Chicago.Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/ZWI1NjJlODQtYTMzNy00ODU0LTk4MWUtNzFmYTNjNjRmYjAw 2) Andy Bellomo explores how large-scale public art becomes a powerful vehicle for queer community, activism, and belonging in Chicago. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/YzlkYzQ2YzYtZDIxMC00OWM0LThlOWEtZDgzYTFlZDU2N2Iz 3) Laura Baginski discusses the essence of Chicago, the importance of creating safe spaces, and the legacy of her late co-founder, Susie Lee. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/MTFkNzI5ZmEtNmFlMy00MDk2LWE3YmItOTc3NTY2NGM5NjA3 4) Tonika Lewis Johnson discusses her impactful work, including the Folded Map Project, which visualizes segregation in Chicago. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/Zjg5NjM4ODYtZjUyNy00MTVhLWFiYTAtOGU3ODc1NTUxNDZk Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago * Website: https://www.notesfromchicago.com/ Notes from Chicago is a weekly interview show hosted by Ashley Phillips, centering the voices, stories, and neighborhoods that make up the real Chicago.
Jul 14

A Mystery Death, a Book Deal, and How Lemonhead Candy Got Its Name

We just hit a milestone!!! 40 episodes and almost a year of Notes from Chicago. To celebrate, we're kicking off a summer series of mini-episodes built around themes from the archive, and this first one is about accidental beginnings. None of these five people planned for their project to become what it became. Our 40th episode kicks off a short summer hiatus. We'll be back with new full-length interviews this fall, but keep an eye out for more mini-episodes in the meantime. In this episode, Ashley revisits: 1) Joabe Barbosa, who started running every street in Chicago after doctors told him to get his blood flowing following a near-fatal mountain rescue. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/MzQyYWI5MTUtZDJhMi00Y2M1LWIzMzYtNDAzOGFkY2I0NTZj 2) Anne Morrissy, author of Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s, on the family rumor about her great-grandfather's mysterious Christmas Day death that sent her digging into Chicago history. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/YzRjNTYzZWYtMTkzZi00ZjNkLTk0ZDgtNWI4OWIyM2Y0Yjlm 3) John Conversa of Ferrara, on how a pan sitting idle in a Taylor Street bakery led to the invention of Lemonhead. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/NTU1ZTdhYzEtYTUxOS00ZDRhLWI0MTktOWU3MjM0ZWE1NDk5 4) Ronnie Frey, creator of Doorways of Chicago, on pitching a photo book out of nowhere and hitting #1 in Amazon travel photography. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/OGFkZTAyNjMtYjQ0NS00NmM3LWFmMzUtY2FiYzMxYTc4ZmUw 5) Sandy Steinbrecher, on the two-week photo shoot that turned into a two-year documentary project on the transformation of the Salt Shed. Full episode: https://pod.link/1838675173/episode/OWI5MjRmODQtNzRkNy00YTQ1LThlODgtN2FkMmFhOTQ5ZjNj Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago Notes from Chicago is a weekly interview show hosted by Ashley Phillips, centering the voices, stories, and neighborhoods that make up the real Chicago.
Jul 7

121 Years of the Chicago Defender with Publisher Dyanna Knight Lewis

Dyanna Knight Lewis is the publisher of the Chicago Defender and regional VP of Real Times Media. Her connection to the paper started long before her career did. In this episode, Dyanna joins Notes from Chicago to talk about stewarding one of the most storied Black institutions in American media, 121 years old and counting. Follow the Chicago Defender: * Website: https://chicagodefender.com * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicagodefender Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago
Jun 30

35+ Years of Chosen Few DJs & Chicago House Music with Tony Hatchett

Before it was a 40,000-person festival, it was a Fourth of July picnic outside the Museum of Science and Industry. This week, Tony Hatchett of the Chosen Few DJs joins Notes from Chicago to trace house music's roots from The Warehouse and disco-era South Side parties to becoming a founding member of the crew behind the world's longest-running house music festival. Follow Chosen Few DJs: * Website: https://chosenfewdjs.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djtonyhatchett | https://www.instagram.com/chosenfewdjs/ Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago
Jun 23

Queer Spaces, Bud Billiken, and Chicago Home Movies with Isis Ferguson and Alyssa Gregory

In this episode of Notes from Chicago, host Ashley Phillips talks with Isis Ferguson (Senior Director of Engagement & Partnerships) and Alyssa Gregory (Marketing Manager) of Arts + Public Life, a University of Chicago initiative rooted in Washington Park that connects, supports, and amplifies South Side artists and culture. Isis and Alyssa break down the four venues that make up Arts + Public Life and the layered history of jazz clubs, theaters, and creative life that once lived on that same block. They dig into Never So Free, a queer Black art and assembly project built around space-making and community history; the Southside Home Movie Project, a striking archive of donated home movies stretching back decades; and the Choreographic Arts Program, which connects young dancers to Chicago's footwork and majorette history. Follow Arts + Public Life: * Website: https://artsandpubliclife.org * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artspubliclife | Isis Ferguson: https://www.instagram.com/meetmein1944 Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago
Jun 16

How Chicago's Doorways Tell the City's Hidden History with Ronnie Frey

Have you ever walked past a door and wondered what story it's holding? This week on Notes from Chicago, we sit down with Ronnie Frey, interior designer turned photographer, and the creator behind the wildly popular Instagram account Doorways of Chicago. What started as a pandemic-era pastime has grown into walking tours, a stunning new coffee table book (already the #1 seller at his publisher and a #1 Amazon Hot New Release in Travel Photography), and a studio inside Chicago's iconic Fine Arts Building. Follow Ronnie Frey, Doorways of Chicago: * Doorways of Chicago Photography Book: https://doorwaysofchicago.com/preorder-doc-photobook/ * Website: https://doorwaysofchicago.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doorwaysofchicago * TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@doorwaysofchicago * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doorwaysofchicago/ Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago
Jun 9

Lawndale Stories with Johnny Jones

This week on Notes From Chicago, host Ashley Phillips sits down with Johnny Jones, documentary filmmaker, founder and CEO of The Lingo Chicago, and proud North Lawndale native. Johnny opens up about growing up in Rockwell Gardens housing projects on the west side, losing his mother at a young age, and how those formative experiences became the foundation for everything he creates today. Johnny shares the story behind Lawndale Stories, his three-part short film series developed through a residency at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and why he felt compelled to document a neighborhood that rarely gets to tell its own story. Follow Johnny Jones: * Website: www.johnnythelingochicago.com * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrlingohimself * TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mrlingohimself Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago
Jun 2

A Chicago Food Legend: From Check, Please! to The Dining Table with David Manilow

David Manilow is a Chicago institution. As the creator of the beloved PBS series Check, Please!, which ran for nearly 20 years in Chicago and expanded to over 10 cities, including San Francisco, Miami, and even Vienna, David helped Chicagoans discover the city's neighborhoods through the lens of food. He's now the host of The Dining Table podcast with Crain's Chicago Business. In this episode, David sits down with Ashley to talk about how Check, Please! was really never just a restaurant show; it was a neighborhood show, a people show, and a guide to understanding Chicago. Follow David Manilow: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Eatdrinkdave Follow Notes from Chicago: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qkYwUroGt4hMZQlhTg32z * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-chicago/id1838675173 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromChicago * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notesfromchi * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromchicago

5

out of 5

4 Ratings

Notes from Chicago is a love letter to the greatest city on the planet. Every week join host and longtime Chicago resident Ashley Phillips as she talks with artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, tastemakers and more about their relationship with the city on the make.

Creator

Ashley Phillips
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

41
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Ashley Phillips, Notes from Chicago 2025
Show Website

Notes from Chicago